New Delhi: The Delhi high court on Friday (November 6) questioned the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) over the cutting of water and electricity supply to the Race Course Masjid. It observed that utility services to a notified property cannot be stopped without prior notice.Justice Subramonium Prasad told the NDMC, “You cannot disconnect electricity without notice.”The observation came during a hearing on a new appeal by the mosque’s imam, who is challenging a single-judge order that refused to restore the connections. A division bench of Justices Prasad and Renu Bhatnagar issued notice to the NDMC and the Delhi Waqf Board and asked both to file their responses within two weeks.Appearing for imam Md Haroon, advocate M. Sufian Siddiqui told the bench that the Union government and the NDMC were relying on an earlier high court ruling. That ruling had cleared the way in August for the removal of about 700 families from jhuggi clusters opposite the prime minister’s residence. Siddiqui argued that the masjid was never a party to those proceedings, The Indian Express reported.He further submitted that the water and electricity connections were cut “without following procedures under relevant statutes and regulations”.Challenging the single judge’s October 15 order, Siddiqui said that “at least a reply was called for (by the single judge’s court) from the respondents to show… on what basis electricity and water was disconnected.”According to the appeal, the central question before the single judge was “whether NDMC possessed lawful authority to disconnect and continue withholding the existing electricity and water supply to a functioning mosque and occupied hujra”. It argues that this question was never examined, as per the report. The appeal also claims that the single judge’s decision “consequently rests upon a foundational misconception of Waqf law, selective consideration of the record, and an erroneous enlargement of the earlier demolition directions” relating to the jhuggis, the report added. The masjid, listed among heritage properties on the NDMC website, stands within the roughly 53-acre Race Course Club, close to the prime minister’s residence at 7, Lok Kalyan Marg. It is a Waqf-notified property. The electricity and water supplies were cut off on October 7, prompting concerns over access to the place of worship.The Land and Development Office (L&DO) claims that the mosque stands on government land. The mosque’s heritage listing has also come under scrutiny amid the dispute. It was declared a Grade II heritage structure in 2009.On October 29, the Union government, acting through the L&DO, assured the high court that it would take a decision within four weeks on the Delhi Waqf Board’s representation. It also said it would not take coercive action against the mosque in the meantime.The next hearing is on December 14.